More adventures in Tanking

I decided to have a go at the Badland's Uldaman. It's an Instance I'm sort of familiar with but have rarely done, so I'm not terribly familiar with the trash Mobs or Bosses (and until last night I was still 'raiding' naked, with no Addons). Once again, almost as soon as I said "I'll Tank. Let's go!", the new LFG tool hooked me up with a group. Amusingly one of the DPS failed the Ready Check and got kicked out, sending us back into the queue, but with a Tank, Healer & 2 DPS in our group it took just seconds for them to be replaced and I was zoned into the Instance.

"Pull lots," came a whisper from someone in my party. I looked at their name, then moused over their icon. He was a Dranei Priest. I guessed he was our Healer.
"Okay," I whispered back.

The Buffs were being passed around as I started early by grabbing a sole Trogg who wandered into the entrance chamber. After downing him I applied my own Buffs, drank up, then got down to business.

The run went fairly smoothly except I picked up the Gni'kiv Medallion while someone else looted the Shaft of Tsol, and because we couldn't Trade across servers we had no way of creating the Staff of Prehistoria to summon Ironaya. In the caves beyond Ironaya's room we also got turned around and wound up near Entrance B and the Obsidian Sentinel, and so back into the caverns we went.

I was amused when the Priest asked us to hurry because he had a Raid to get to. Why sign up for a run if you've got a Raid scheduled not too far away? I guess he was expecting a faster run than what he was getting, although (IMO) it wasn't that slow (except for us getting lost). That was when Lady Karma slapped my face and I started to pull Spouse Aggro; we were going to the In-laws for dinner and now I needed us to hurry as well. Fortunately by now we'd made it to the final area with just a couple of Pulls between us and the Boss, so I knew there wasn't long to go.

Does everyone have Mana? Yes? Go. Go! GO! We rushed down the Ramp, killing everything that stood in our way. I did Uldaman years ago, with my Gnome Warrior Tanking. We'd wiped on the Boss because the stupid Rogue used his Combo points on Expose Armor, preventing me from applying Sunder Armor and being unable to hold Aggro on him Archaedas had run rampant over our group. It was not pretty.

This time I made sure I held Aggro, and despite constantly summoning reinforcements the Titan eventually fell. I completed all the quests I had, got the new ones, then was forced to burn my Hearthstone when everyone else dropped group and Ghetto Hearthed on me. But as I was eating with the In-laws it's not like I'd need to Hearth again any time soon.

The next day I decided to head back into Uldaman, but this time Solo. Now at 46 I figured I could take the smaller groups and get the Gems I'd somehow missed (for The Shattered Necklace quest). Prior to going in I downloaded and installed Titan and Atlas so now I would have an in-game Map of the Instance.

The going was slow but uneventful as I pulled larger and larger groups. After one massive battle where runners brought back reinforcements which almost resulted in my death (thank heavens I'd finally worked out what is required for a Pally to Bubble-Heal) I counted the bodies as I looted them and there were 12. Yes, they were 6 levels lower than my Pally (on average), but these were Elites, including a mini-Boss, not your run of the mill, garden variety Mobs.

This time in I picked up the Shaft of Tsol, so with the Staff of Prehistoria in hand and with Ironaya's room clear of trash, I decided to let her out to play. With around 15,000hp (6 times my own) it was a war of attrition that I eventually won, but not before the Iron Maiden engaged in some Dwarf Punting, kicking me from her room back into the entrance halls.

If the Priest had thought the previous night's run to be slow, he'd have died of boredom watching my Solo attempt. I gradually cleared the caves, found Grimlok, and this time got my second Gem. I also don't recall taking out Galgann on my other run, or if I just missed looting the Gem, but not this time around. Although I still had to look around for the sparklies, so maybe I just missed it last time. With the end in sight I pressed on and decided to see just how much of Uldaman I could clear.

Down the final Ramp I went with Golems and Dwarfs alike falling to my Crusader-enchanted Vanquisher's Sword. While I do have Jang'thraze the Protector (from when Shaun ran me through ZF) the 28-AP bonus on Vanquisher's would put the two blades on equal footing, except the enchant gives Vanquisher's a slight edge.

Outside Archaedas chamber I paused to consider the best Buffs for what I knew was going to be a very looooong fight. I decided Seal of Light and Blessing of Sanctuary were the order of the day, and hoped their sporadic and somewhat passive regen of my Health and Mana would see me through. Of my Auras I felt Retribution was my best choice, especially if Archaedas managed to summon multiple Mobs to aid him. And with that, I entered the room and began to release my foe.

As soon as he became clickable (instead of just scenery) I retreated towards the door and backed into a corner. Upon targeting the Titan I was actually a little daunted and wondered if I'd bitten off more than I could chew. Although he was 6 levels lower than me, he's still an Elite Boss with almost ten times my Health, and he summons Mobs to help him. Fortunately the combined damage from my Ret Aura, Holy Shield (w/ Mithril Shield Spike), & Consecrate meant his little buddies never lasted long. I didn't even need to target them but stayed on Archaedas the whole time.

As the Titan's health slowly dropped to where I began to think I might actually have a chance, a Golem appeared by his side. It was larger than the Dwarfs he'd been summoning and it didn't go down as quickly as them either. Slowly my own health began to drain away, then a second Golem appeared. With my health bar dipping dangerously low it was time to demonstrate just why people despise Paladins.

I popped Consecrate then...Bubble Heal! Then a second Heal! Now at full health I renewed Holy Shield then laid down another Consecrate. A third Golem appeared, maybe even a fourth, I couldn't tell; I was focused on Archaedas' health bar as it got lower and lower. I'd fought this fight just one night ago but couldn't remember what happened when he died. I hoped his death resulted in his summoned Mobs despawning.

Finally the Titan crashed to the ground and his minions did despawn. Not that I was worried about them, it just meant I didn't need to finish them off, too.

And just like that I'd Solo'd Uldaman. Yes, a nerfed Uldaman (versus its pre-BC version), but still not a walk-in-the-park Uldaman, not at 46. When I found I still somehow had a completed Staff of Prehistoria in my pack I decided to go back in using the LFG tool, but at 46 the game decided I was now too high for Uldaman. I'm also almost too high for Maraudon, another Instance I'd like to run, so with that I set off for Desolace to grab the Mara quests. By the time I got there and had rounded up all the quests it was getting late and like the night before I was once again drawing Spouse Aggro. It was definitely bed time. Mara will just have to wait.

I know some have lamented that the new cross-server LFG tool has taken away the social side of WoW, but IMO your Guild and server are there for socializing. If you want to kick back and relax then run an Instance with your Guildmates. If you want to get in, kick arse & chew gum without taking names, the LFG tool is a great addition to help people find Instance groups. It's also made the more out-of-the-way Instances like Maraudon and Dire Maul a lot more accessible, and I'm actually looking forward to running those in my 50s. IMO the LFG tool has breathed new life into lower level content, and people are now getting more WoW for their buck.